The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-03-27

of Der own and was not unhappy. Day and
night she peoped the woods, and fields, and
waters with her fancies. She feared nothing
wandering alone in the wild woods far from
home, and slipping out ami strolIing by the lone
lake shore under the noon at night In the
widest thunderstorm, when the great oaks
bent and groaned and the little house quaked, she
stood on the damp piazza and looked and
listened. The terrific glory of the cloud-burst-
ing thunder and mad-leaping lightning, which
drove old Mrs. Walker whining to her feather
bed, moved this ardent nature with no
meaner emotion than rapturous awe For
merly she had been fond of browning
herself with wreaths of white flowers
as she came home from the woods; now she
crowned herself with thin light wreaths of pars-
ley and old Mrs. Walker noted the change with
painful misgvngs. ali unaware that what she
despised as weed and gave to the pigs was the
esteemed parsley out OF which the Greeks made
fil!ets for the vctors in their games, to be
crowned with which was to achieve deathless
fame
The lake was three or four miles long and at
some points almost two miles wide. This con-
siderable body Of water was not transported to
the bowels of the earth in single day; the per-
cep.be sinking had indeed began on the day of
Arladnes birth, but it was some weeks ere
the lake had quite barred its bottom
to the SUM- and three months or
more were gone before the water was entirely
replaced and normal condition ensued Twice
during Ariadnes lifetime vas this curious phe
nomenon repeated. The watery exit appeared
to take place through the bottomless pool in that
end of the lake owned By Solomon Walker The
shore here for the most part was high and steep,
and Immediately over the fathomless pool,
Devils Hole. as it was sometimes called. the
bluff rose in curiousy shaped mound, which
Aradne always declared looked like a human
| head The long, wild flowing, hairy wire grass
completely covered this place, and to Ariadne it
was the hair of the human head. The
Giants Head" she called it finally.
and of all her woodland haunts this
n blllOwv
here. she watched the waters calm or lifted by
high wind, the glow wall of woods beyond the
green waving fields sloping away from the
| nearer shores, the lone buzzard's wild fight far
on high, the sea,thy-sweeping cloud shadow, as
swifter than the wind, it swallowed up the shin
| ing landscape and SO dreamed her strange
| dreams. Once when the lake was low and sink
| Ing old Mrs Walker found her here and, meet
| ing the girls distracted. dreaming gaze, she went
| home and solemnly declared to her that
| unearthly light shone IN those youthful eyes
| which loved to gaze into the watery abyss called
| the Devils Hole
| 1t was wonderful as all acknowledged, but
| at nineteen this dreaming, deep eyed Ariadne
| had lover. Nathan Cowsley was a plain
young farmer, with not an idea or aspiration
| which reached beyond the corn field and the set
| Element: but he was man of strong natural
feelings. and he loved her with great earnestness.
| We need not wonder that she attracted him.
after all, for Ariadne was beautiful in face and
| form. and when those deep, strange eyes were
| turned away from him. and he saw this beauty
| only. he felt that she was truly of his kind,
| his hearts ideal, and he yearned to hold her
| in his arms and call her wife. But when
those eyes of hers were turned on him. some
| how there came chill and he grew i'll
| at Sunday after Sunday ne came and sat
| on the piazza in desultory conversation with
| the elders while Ariadne also sat close by-quite
docile and obedicnt to the crandmother's previous
| behest though she would greatly have preferred
! lonely stroll or the lake shore while the
! was setting or the moon was rising. She never
when the old people left them alone and he
made sundry attempts to assume the regulation
"courtin'" attitude. Hs always went away
chilled at heart-poor man! He could
hardly get on with her. even in a serious
| common-plac conversation. Not that she
| found interest II the things around her.
she was interested in them all. but in different
| way-seeing in them what he did not and could
never see. Poor Ariadnes heart was kind, but
she kaew not how to adapt herself to him. and
so went on saying that which filled him with
wonder and struck him dumb. What allied herl
what allied her? He was profoundly discouraged
early. but still he came
Her brains is added, SOL said grandmot h er
Walker sadly San Nathan mout jes es we'll quit
an be done with it. She were born so-po'
creetur. She can't hep it. She want born for
barkin' up another stump" Ard Solomon
Walker bowed his head, as if a weight hung
round his neck. and looked at his daughter in
dumb deep regret.
Cowsley had better go elsewhere to seek wife,
but they were wrong in thinking Arisdne was
not born for love. The time came when her
heart was only too open to the love of one man.
He was a stranger in that country, and she only
saw him once-poor Ariadne!
One morning old Mrs. Walker found live
lizard in the water she drew from the we'll.
This was sure forerunner of i'll luck, and she
was no little disturbed with misgiyings What
was to 60 wrong now7 For some days it pleased
her to deny herself the we'll water-doubtless
with the intent OF staving off the threatened
misfortune If Notwithstanding instead the
slightly inferior liquid from the spring down
slider the big road from which place Aradne
fetched it daily 1t was here the stran ger was en-
countsred. Late one afternoon the girl sailed
forth bare-headed, the water pail under
her arm. and the dead schoolmasters copy of the
"Iliad' in her hands looking into it and reading
a few lines now and then On the way she
plucke0 some parsley made fillet OF it, and
crowned herself, smiling, as always, at the
thought that she thus honored herself, most
cheaply. without any of the desperate striving
to become victor in the Greek games So she
approached the spring, and beheld dismouuted
horseman watering his animal 4 few steps
away she paused ere he had seen her and gazed
at him in wonder 1t was evident that he did
not belong to that part of the country. From
his dress, his manner and ALL he appeared to be
a man of the world. But it Vas his extraorii
nary physical beauty which affected her. Trans
port them back three Thousand years, and The
|, sens and Ariadne had met.
. He turned and saw her, and then she moved
forward with perfect selfpossession to dip hel
pail. He took off mis- hat to her-which salute
} she acknowledged with great dignity and sweet
ness-and, leaning on his horses neck, he looked
, on with wonder almost as great as her own. To
meet bare headed, beautiful girl at the road
} side slight wonder in itself, but to m eel
, her with WATERFALL under her arm. book ir
her hands. and wreath of parsley on her head
he had encountered nothing like it She
seemed to wish to hear him speak-to expec
INV toll fto-
, or two. he made bold 10 ask her what it was she
t read For reply she handed him the book.
l Oh. the ''Iadw He was greatly surprised
$ He turned the leaves almost reverently, tellin;
I her he thought il n fine thing to have read this